Lupines

Leaf appearance on February 4th as they germinate and begin to grow.

The same Lupines taken today, March 28th.

A container full of Lupines ready to be planted in the garden!

Shirley,
Your lupines look fantastic! Isn't wintersowing great! Such healthy looking plants and so many of them.
Congrats!
Michelle

Thanks Michelle! When I separate them tomorrow, I'll be sure to take a picture of their root system. It's quite extensive!

Shirley,
When did you sow those lupines?
Thanks,
Kathy

That was one thing that totally amazed me on some of mine- the root systems!

Kathy: They were sowed on 12/26/05. Germinated around the beginning of February and are ready to plant in the garden the 1st of April! No joke!! :~) BTW, they are Lupinus, "The Govenor".

Aren't they truly amazing, Anita! Lupines have long tap roots. The early you can plant these babies in the garden the better. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will see some flowers this year. Not sure though.

How about them roots!

Wow - they were on their way to China!

Can't wait to see your garden bloom pictures! They will be fantastic!

I look forward to their blooms also. 'The Governor' has blue & white flowers. I'm not sure if they will bloom this year or next. I'll start singing the song, "Anticipation is making me wait...."!

Thanks!!

I love their leaves. Now I'm feeling nervous that I WS'd in containers that are too shallow. I'm thinking I'll have to pot all my things up once before they can go in the garden. After I'd done my first round someone posted about having a min of 4" of soil and I was going whoops - I didn't do that. 2nd and 3rd rounds I used bigger containers. I have germination today on Cerinthe major 'Blue Kiwi', dahlia Unwins Dwarf, Dahlia Stargazer, nasturtium, and a first set of leaves on Violas, Shasta Alaska, nepeta cataria, red poppies, marigolds, 2nd set of leaves on Centaurea.
No sign yet on any vegetables or herbs. I'm already thinking ahead to saving seeds - lol
Andrea

Andrea,

Thanks! I love the Lupine leaf too! I think it's quite attractive, even without the flower!

Regarding the 1st round of containers that have less than 4" of soil, you will need to be vigilant about keeping them well watered, especially as the temperatures get warmer. I learned that the hard way one year. I only noticed 1 container that has dried up so far. The rest are staying moist. I did add a few polymer crystals to each container and that has helped to keep the soil moist. When we had a couple of days that the temperature soared into the 70's, I made sure to water all my containers very well with the garden hose.

My herbs germinated very quickly. Lots of basil, oregano, chives, etc. Don't have any tomatoes germinating yet either. I'll start sowing my peppers & eggplants now. They prefer warmer temps anyway.

Yes, when the time comes, we'll all be heading over to the seed saving forum to learn everything we can to save these precious seeds for next years wintersowing!

I'm glad you told me about the roots -- my lupines are in one of my shallower deli salad containers -- they'll get transplanted tomorrow.

I just direct sowed lupines in the garden ... I have not had much luck with them here since they like full sun but cool weather ... it gets very hot and humid here in the dead of summer and most of my garden is fully exposed, sun all day ... I'm thinking of putting them in part shade or hiding them on the eastern side of a larger plant ... any ideas? Of all the plants I've bought, only one has lived (a magnificent red one) and I have no idea why!

I haven't had much luck with them either and I love their look!

You don't have to tell me about heat & humidity! We get plenty of it during the Summertime and I'm in a warmer zone! I've had Lupines growing in a partly sunny location and they keep returning every year. I think if you located them like I did in pt. sun, they will be happy. I also kept them well watered, so they didn't get to dry. We are already being warned about water restrictions starting next month! Gggrrr!